Public employees approve state contract

By overwhelming margins, AFSCME and MAPE members have voted to accept the state employee contract for 2005-2007.

Members of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 5, voted 86 percent for the new pact. Members of MAPE, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, gave the contract 93 percent approval.

“The union’s bargaining team delivered a decent contract that state employees support,” said Eliot Seide, lead negotiator for AFSCME Council 5. “We held the line on health insurance. We got a two percent raise for both years, plus step increases. And we demanded respect and got it.”

“We’re glad that MAPE members have approved our new contract,” said MAPE Executive Director Jim Monroe. “This is a good contract. We don’t think you’ll find many, if any, contracts in this country this year that hold down health-care costs like this one does while providing across the board increases.”

Last week, nearly 19,000 AFSCME members had the opportunity to vote on the tentative contract, either through mail ballots or at one of 59 voting locations throughout the state. Seide characterized the turnout as “moderate” and consistent with previous years.

Voting by MAPE members was conducted through the mail. Ballots for both unions were counted and the results announced Monday.

The language for the new AFSCME-state contract is posted online at www.afscmemn.org and for MAPE at www.mape.org

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Reparations for public employees who lost income during the eight-day partial government shutdown in July are not addressed in the new agreement. About 9,300 AFSCME and MAPE members were affected by the shutdown. The estimated cost of making them whole is $10.1 million.

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“State employees wanted to work, but they were locked out through no fault of their own,” said Seide. “They should be made whole for their loss of pay, vacation and comp time. It’s critical to rebuild morale.”

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The employer and unions agreed to address shutdown reparations separately from contract negotiations. They held their first meeting Aug. 24 to set the groundwork for the resolution process. Lance Teachworth was selected as the facilitator. He served as the state?s chief negotiator during the Quie and Perpich administrations, then as Commissioner of the Bureau of Mediation Services during the Ventura administration.

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“Lance Teachworth is a respected professional,” said Seide. “I am confident that he will give state employee unions a fair hearing.

“There are 38 states with provisions to keep government open if their legislature fails to pass a new budget. Minnesota must address this larger issue.”

The state and unions have set no deadline for resolving the issue, but “it’s not going to go away,” AFSCME Council 5 President Mike Buesing said.

?We remain committed to making whole those state employees who were used as pawns in the state government shutdown when the governor and the Legislature failed to get a budget deal enacted on time,? said Monroe, whose union represents 11,000 state workers.

Seide credited the state contract settlement to “the solidarity and strength” of Council 5, created by the merger of three AFSCME councils. The council represents 40,000 public and non-profit employees in Minnesota.

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